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“Blue Is the Warmest Color” Trailer

Adèle Exarchopoulos is a young woman whose longings and ecstasies and losses are charted across a span of several years. Léa Seydoux is the older woman who excites her desire and becomes the love of her life.

The French film Blue Is the Warmest Color first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or – awarded to director Abdellatif Kechiche and the film’s two lead actresses. The plot centers on a young woman, played by Adèle Exarchopoulos, who is just beginning to discover her sexuality. She embarks on a relationship with the blue-haired Emma, played by Léa Seydoux (Midnight in Paris, La belle personne).

The film is based on the French graphic novel, Blue Is the Warmest Color or Le bleu est une couleur chaude, authored by Julie Maroh. Maroh did not take too kindly to the film adaptation of her work and she was especially critical of the graphic sex scenes, which shocked many film critics. She stated, “As a feminist and lesbian spectator, I cannot endorse the direction Kechiche took on these matters. I’m also looking forward to what other women will think about it. This is simply my personal stance.”

Despite the evocative nature of the film, critics have written very positively about Blue Is the Warmest Color. Justin Chang of Variety magazine writes, “It’s a measure of the honesty and generosity of Kechiche’s storytelling that the picture’s explicit sexuality and extreme running time feel consistent with his raw, sensual embrace of all aspects of life.”

You can watch Blue Is the Warmest Color in theaters on October 25th. Expect a NC-17 rating.